The present invention relates to coverings and particularly to tufted broadloom carpet and/or modular carpet, i.e., carpet tiles or roll tile wherein the wear surface of the covering includes exposed patterned portions of the primary backing and backstitches of the tufts having complementary aesthetic design characteristics.
One form of conventional covering is tufted broadloom roll carpet or modular carpet, i.e., carpet tiles or roll tile, hereafter generically referred to as carpet or covering. The terms carpet or covering are meant to embrace carpet applied to a floor, wall or ceiling. A principal and inherent deficiency in a carpet, particularly in commercial facilities, resides in the declining appearance retention of the aesthetic features of the carpet over long periods of use. For example, in commercial facilities, as well as in homes, carpet pile located adjacent doorways or high traffic areas quickly mats down with very noticeable adverse changes in appearance. Another example is conventional carpet used in locations where wheels and/or casters for chairs, carts and other items are frequently used. The appearance of the carpet in such areas degrades rapidly. It will be appreciated that carpet construction made to conventional levels typically sacrifices other desirable attributes such as comfort under foot or sound absorption and oftentimes a lack of aesthetic characteristics. Also, carpet which is over-engineered and over-designed to accommodate those high-use and high-traffic areas is concomitantly over-designed in areas of less traffic and use. For example, by designing a very high density carpet to accommodate high traffic areas by using additional pile, not only is the cost of the carpet substantially increased by the increased cost of the most expensive part of the carpet, i.e., the pile, but also waste disposal becomes a serious problem. Accordingly, there is a need for a carpet which overcomes the foregoing deficiencies and yet provides an aesthetically phasing appearance at low cost.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the burden of the wear surface of a tufted carpet constructed in accordance with the present invention is in part transferred to the primary backing surface which carpet pile normally obscures. The primary backing for a tufted pile carpet typically serves as a support for the pile rather than to impart any aesthetics to the carpet. In most carpets, the primary backing is totally obscured by the pile and plays no role in the aesthetic design of the carpet. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, however, a tufted carpet is provided in which the backstitches of the tufts and exposed portions of the primary backing are presented as the wear surface. That is, both the backstitches of the tufts and primary backing portions in selected discrete areas of the carpet, respectively, are exposed as discrete parts of the wear surface. The exposed portions of the primary backing thus also form an aesthetic part of the carpet wear surface in conjunction with other portions of the wear surface of the carpet formed by the backstitches of the tufts exposed on one side of the primary backing. Because significant portions of the carpet wear surface comprise the exposed primary backing, the primary backing is not only provided with aesthetic considerations but is also formed with an ultraviolet stabilizer to alleviate the destructive effect of the sun""s ultraviolet rays.
The preferred primary backing according to the invention is made of woven polypropylene tape yarns or multi-filament yarns, although other materials of construction, such as nylon or polyester or other polyolefins such as polyethylene may be used. Other yarn forms may also be used and other fabric forms, including warp knitted, weft insertion and non-woven or stitch-boiled may also be used.
The carpet hereof is thus characterized in part by the tight, dense and exposed backstitches of the tufts along portions of the wear surface of the primary backing in conjunction with portions of the primary backing which are likewise exposed as wear surfaces and which do not have any tufted yarns therethrough. It will be appreciated that the use of tufted yarns in only portions of the carpet and exposing the remaining portions of the primary backing, i.e., untufted areas, as part of the wear surface has the concomitant benefit of requiring less surface pile material, reduced costs and reduced disposal concerns at the end of the carpet""s useful life. Moreover, the resulting carpet has a dense low-profile surface, which retains its textile aesthetics and enables rolling traffic such as beds, chairs, cleaning equipment and the like to move over the carpet without substantial degradation in the appearance of the carpet. The carpet is also much lighter than conventional tufted carpet.
To form the carpet hereof, a primary backing is tufted in a conventional manner and at selected areas along the primary backing. Rather than forming cut or continuous loops along the wear surface of the carpet, the tufted primary backing is inverted such that the backstitches of the tufts form portions of the wear surface. A resin is applied to the back side of the primary backing, which now contains either the cut or loop yarns to retain the cut or loop yarns in place on the back side of the primary backing. Thus, all of the cut or loop yarns on the back side of the primary backing are encapsulated by the resin. A hot melt composition is then applied over the resin. Preferably, the hot melt composition comprises a mixture of EVA, calcium carbonate and a resin, a mixture known in the trade as Unibond(copyright) backing. Additionally, while the hot melt is still in a liquid or plastic condition, a secondary backing, preferably a woven polypropylene scrim, is applied to the melt composition. The carpet construction is then moved across a chill table to solidify the Unibond(copyright) layer. Consequently, the woven polypropylene scrim forms the back side of the carpet which is then applied to the floor surface, for example, by an adhesive.
Instead of the secondary backing of woven polypropylene scrim, a needle-bonded synthetic fiber backing may be applied to the resin and Unibond(copyright) layer overlying the cut or loop yarn. The needle-bonded synthetic fiber is preferably a mixture of nylon and minor amounts of polypropylene, both of which are preferably recycled fibers from other manufacturing streams. Thus, the needle-bonded nylon and polypropylene fibers are homogenized and applied to the back side of the primary which is saturated with the resin fixing the cut or loop yarns in place. Of course, the needle-bonded nylon and polypropylene can be formed of original nylon and polypropylene without any waste content or mixtures of new and waste nylon and polypropylene fibers may be used. This type of secondary backing affords a dense coherent cushion fabric providing comfort underfoot, acoustic control and thermal insulation.
As a further alternative, and in lieu of the woven polypropylene primary backing, a non-woven primary backing, particularly useful for modular carpeting, may be provided. This primary backing may be formed of a mixture of nylon and polyester fibers, cut or chopped, mixed together and passed between a pair of heated rolls to form a flat sheet of the composite structure. The composite sheet may be tufted and provides a more dimensionally stable primary backing than woven polypropylene. This ensures carpet stability, particularly when used for modular carpets. While the non-woven primary backing may be used with either the Unibond(copyright) material and woven polypropylene scrim as a secondary backing or the needle-bonded synthetic fiber secondary backing, the non-woven backing is not essential or necessary for use in the manufacture of broadloom carpet. For modular carpeting, however, where high stability is required, the non-woven primary backing formed of the tufted sheet of nylon and polyester fibers may have a secondary backing, including a PVC precoat, to encapsulate the tufted fibers and maintain the tufted fibers in place. A main coat having a heavier PVC content and also a fiberglass stabilizer layer may be added for further stability.
In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a covering for a floor, wall or ceiling surface comprising a primary backing in part exposed on one side of the covering for forming discrete wear surface portions of a wear surface of the covering, a plurality of yarns tufted into the primary backing along remaining parts of the primary backing forming cut or loop yarns on a back side of the primary backing remote from the wear surface, leaving a plurality of backstitches of the tufted yarns along and forming remaining portions of the wear surface and a resin fixing the cut or loop pile tufted yarn along the back side or the primary backing, the backstitches and the primary backing portions exposed along the wear surface having aesthetic characteristics distinguished from one another.
In a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a covering for a floor, wall or ceiling surface comprising a woven primary backing having tufted and non-tufted portions on one side thereof exposed for forming discrete wear surface portions of a wear surface of the covering, the tufted portions including a plurality of yarns tufted into the primary backing and formed of cut or loop yarns on a back side of the primary backing remote from the wear surface, leaving a plurality of backstitches of the tufted yarns along and forming part of the wear surface and a resin fixing the cut or loop tufted yarns along the back side of the primary backing, the non-tufted portions comprising warp and weft yarns of the primary backing, the tufted and non-tufted portions of the primary backing exposed along the wear surface having aesthetic characteristics distinguished from one another. If desired, a protective coating may be applied to the wear surface side of the primary backing to enhance wear life.